The Tokyo-based startup Attuned offers companies what it calls “predictive HR analytics” that can identify the intrinsic motivations of each member of a team. By having employees take a simple 55-question survey, Attuned says it can reveal who within a company is motivated by money, who thrives on competition, who requires a flashy job title to be happy, and more.

Attuned’s American-born CEO Casey Wahl said the startup spent more than two years working with a team of psychologists to write the perfect set of questions – ones that not only yielded a strong link to specific values, but also wouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete.

Wahl invited me to take the survey, so last week I took him up on the offer. Although I was bewildered by some of the questions, I managed to make it through, and learn something about myself in the process. And I left understanding why major Japanese companies like Rakuten and Denso are shelling out so much money to have their employees do the same.

Here’s what the experience was like:

Attuned is a Japanese startup that provides companies with what it calls “predictive HR analytics” to help them understand what motivates each of their employees.

Attuned

When companies sign on with Attuned, their employees take a 55-question survey meant to assess how strongly they value things like “competition,” “feedback,” “social relationships,” and “autonomy” at work.

Attuned

Companies are paying top dollar for the service. A basic yearly subscription to Attuned costs about $US2,000 for a company of 200 employees or fewer, while a premium subscription costs $US5,000 minimum.

Attuned

I recently took Attuned’s 55-question survey. Each question presented me with a pair of statements and asked me to indicate which one applied to me more.

Attuned

The statements all connected to one of the 11 values Attuned scores people on — in this case, feedback and financial needs.

Attuned

I had to decide not only which statement was more true, but how strongly I preferred it over the other statement. In this case, I went with “somewhat prefer.”

Attuned

In some cases, my decision was easy and clear-cut.

Attuned

In others, the statements weren’t so easy to compare. I considered both of the below statements mostly true, so I had trouble picking a side.

Attuned

Some of the statements were pretty on the nose in terms of which values and motivators they were connected to. Both of the ones below even explicitly asked me what I was motivated by.

Attuned

At times, evaluating each statement did require some logical hoop-jumping. For this question, I had to determine whether my willingness “to do work that I don’t really enjoy” for more money outweighed my tendency to prepare for vacations in advance.

Attuned

And in this case, I had to consider whether my fondness for “rational debates” was more significant than the degree to which people can “count on me.” That’s not a comparison I typically make on a daily basis.

Attuned

Meanwhile, this one just left me scratching my head.

Attuned

The very last question presented me with a tough choice between two statements I didn’t think applied to me at all.

Attuned

However, since I disagreed much more with the statement about elite neighbourhoods, I ended up moving the slider all the way to the right. Maybe I was overthinking it, but I wanted to make sure I was following the rules given.

Attuned

After I finished the test, I was shown my “motivational profile” — the full breakdown of how much I’m motivated by each of the 11 values. Attuned sorts each category into things that I “need to have” at work, things that are “nice to have,” and things that I’m “neutral” toward.

Attuned

Apparently, my two biggest motivators are competition and financial needs. That surprised me — although I love competition outside of work, I never thought of it as being integral to my work experience. And even though I want to have my financial needs met, I probably wouldn’t have gone into journalism if it were that important.

Attuned

“Rationality” and “social relationships” were two things it said I considered “nice to have” at work, but not essential.

Attuned

I didn’t have any complaints about my “altruism” and “progress” scores — the bullet points seemed mostly accurate, as far as I could tell.

Attuned

But I was surprised to see “feedback” so low on the list, because I thought I had indicated several times throughout the test that I valued constructive criticism.

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The last section of my motivational profile provided examples of work environments I would be a “good fit” or “not a good fit” in.

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I could see how these extrapolations could be helpful to managers and supervisors looking to find the right roles for their employees.

Attuned

When every member of a team takes the survey, managers can see where each of their employees falls on the motivational spectrum. Each blue dot represents how a different employee scored on each value.

Attuned

CEO Casey Wahl shared his team’s ‘cultural dashboard’ with me — he’s the purple dot on each line — and you can see how his values sometimes differ from his employees’. He’s less motivated by feedback, for example. Now that he knows that, he tries harder to encourage his employees, even though he said “it’s not my natural style.”

Attuned

The Attuned survey is not a one-time thing. Subscriptions also include “pulse surveys” — short, 30-second follow-up quizzes that employees take every two weeks to see how their motivators change over time. Attuned uses AI to tailor the surveys to the individual based on answers they have previously given.

Attuned

According to Wahl, the pulse surveys can predict when employees are on the verge of quitting.

Attuned

Even though I didn’t think my profile was a picture-perfect assessment, I realised the tool could be a huge time saver for team leaders. The ability to know what makes each of your employees tick could lead to increased productivity and lower turnover rates. That alone probably makes it worth the investment, and I can see why companies are shelling out so much money to try it.